No stranger to interpreting other artists’ work, Patti Smith in recent weeks has taken to covering Midnight Oil’s 1987 crossover smash “Beds are Burning” in concert, leading up to the familiar song with her own 3-minute spoken-word intro about the Aboriginal people of Australia. Watch it here.
A new documentary chronicling Midnight Oil’s pivotal year of 1984 — which saw the release of Red Sails in the Sunset and Peter Garrett’s failed run for the Australian Senate as a Nuclear Disarmament Party candidate — will screen in Australian theaters in May before an international rollout.
Midnight Oil last week wrapped its mammoth Great Circle 2017 worldwide reunion tour, playing to more than 500,000 people at concerts over the past seven months. But fans who didn’t catch it, or those who want to re-live it, are in luck: the band says it may release a live document next year. After that? “Who knows.”
The reunited Midnight Oil is back in the U.S. for a short second round of dates on its Great Circle 2017 world tour, a run of shows that brought the band to New York City’s Terminal 5 on Aug. 21 — a date that would have been the late Joe Strummer’s 65th birthday. Watch the Oils’ cover of “London Calling” here.
Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs. All releases due out this Friday unless noted. This week’s releases include new box sets from Kraftwerk and Midnight Oil, and a new Charlatans record.
Just two dates into the North American leg of their worldwide reunion tour, Midnight Oil this morning announced the band will return to the U.S. in late August for “a final four special shows” in Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis and Cleveland. See the band’s full tour dates here.
Back in February, when Midnight Oil announced its global reunion tour, the band also revealed plans for not one but three giant box sets: a collection of the band’s 13 albums and EPs on vinyl, another compiling those releases on CD plus a DVD of videos, and a third featuring a truckload of unreleased material.
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 